CHIEF MAKING EFFORT TO LIMIT POLICE VIOLENCE.

Byline: EARL O. HUTCHINSON

DURING the past few years I have vigorously criticized the Los Angeles Police Department for not swiftly and fully implementing the Christopher Commission's recommendations on the use of excessive force by officers.

The Christopher Commission made it painfully clear that far too many officers were getting away with far too much when it came to abusive treatment of citizens.

The issue of excessive force, which appeared to be the signature of the LAPD during the reign of Daryl Gates, came to a head with the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1991 and the devastating L.A. Riots in 1992.

This ultimately led to the downfall of Gates and unprecedented public disgust with the practices and performance of the LAPD. Gates' replacement, Willie Williams, offered the promise of change, but that quickly got lost amid the charges of incompetence and scandal and that cost him his job.

The next appointee as chief - Bernard Parks, the consummate LAPD insider, with a reputation as a tough, no-nonsense disciplinarian - seemed to be the right man to do something about excessive force by officers within the LAPD.

After a year on the job, Parks claims that big changes have happened. In September, he pre-empted a much anticipated report, scheduled to be released soon by Inspector General Katherine Mader, which shows far fewer officers are resorting to excessive force than in the past.

The plunge in excessive force, including such things as off-duty gun discharges and shootings by off-duty officers, is indeed dramatic. From 1993 to 1997, the number of officer-involved shootings dropped by 22 percent. The figure is even more remarkable considering that the number of officers on street patrol has jumped 26 percent in the same time.

The accolades for this can be spread around: first to Parks, for keeping his pledge to run a tightly disciplined ship; next to the Police Commission, which at times has been roundly and justifiably criticized for being a rubber stamp for the chief, for more aggressively monitoring the progress of the chief in implementing the Christopher Commission recommendations; and finally to Mader, who made it clear that she would make it a priority to hold the chief accountable for reducing excessive force by officers.

But there are two things that threaten to spoil the accolades. The first is the recent shooting death of an elderly, African-American man, Joe Joshua, on a street corner in South Central Los Angeles. According to the LAPD, Joshua was shot when he threatened officers with a knife. Witnesses dispute this. They claim that Joshua did not threaten the officers with his knife.

This immediately raised the old charge made by some blacks that the LAPD is still just as deadly and brutal as ever. To stem the anger, LAPD officials quickly met with community residents to explain their version of the shooting. Chief Parks has promised a full investigation of this use of deadly force. The tragic incident will be a good test of how tough the standards of investigation and, if warranted, discipline really are now under LAPD policy.

The second thing that could restrain the accolades for the LAPD for clamping down on excessive force is the conflict between the chief and the Los Angeles Police Protective League over when and how officers should be disciplined. From almost the moment that Parks became chief, the league has waged low-intensive warfare with him over this issue. It sees him as a virtual dictator who tramples on the rights of officers. The league insists that Park's tight-fisted ways have driven down the morale of officers who work in perpetual terror that he will bounce them from their job for even the pettiest of infractions.

The league is backing a charter reform proposal that would allow officers to appeal any punitive discipline handed out by the chief to a binding arbitration panel that would be independent of him. This blatant move by the league to snatch control away from Parks for the discipline of officers prompted Warren Christopher to send letters to the charter reform commissions strongly opposing the proposal.

This proposal won't go anywhere since it's unlikely that Mayor Richard Riordan and the City Council, both staunch backers of Parks, would lend any support to it. And it shouldn't, anyway. Disciplining officers is and should be the prerogative of the chief. If Parks imposes punishments fairly and with consistency, and there are clear guidelines spelling out when, how and what discipline should be meted out to officers for specific violations of policy, particularly in the use of excessive force, there should be little cause for complaint. Still, the Police Commission and the inspector general must maintain vigilance to make sure that he does.